Tobacco smoke contains many different chemical compositions, one of which is nicotine. The removal of nicotine from tobacco smoke could have a beneficial affect upon tobacco smoking products.
Various components of tobacco smoke have been eliminated by use of metal ions in the form of compounds that are adsorbed or otherwise impregnated onto the surface of the materials that can be incorporated into a filter of a smoking device. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,469, the removal of nitrogen oxides from cigarette smoke was accomplished by the use of cobalt or iron chelates absorbed or supported on the surface of a suitable particulate support (for example activated carbon particles) which were disposed within a cigarette filter. In Japanese Kokai Patent No. 59 [1984]- 16540, the absorbency of tobacco filters for substances, such as ammonia, mercaptan, etc., was enhanced by impregnating the filter with a metal tannate chelate compound. One such metal tannate chelate was formed by the reaction of ferric chloride (FeCl.sub.3) and tannic acid.